The Joyful Gourmet

This shop is a gem for anyone who enjoys cooking or baking. They have a wide range of quality kitchen tools, cookware, and gadgets that are both practical and unique. The store is well-organized, making it easy to browse and find what you need. It’s a great place to get inspired, whether you’re upgrading your kitchen or just picking up something small. I always leave with something useful and ideas for my next recipe

We attended a wine tasting with some friends. You can just tell that everyone there really cares about cooking, food, wine and about being a great hosts! Really enjoyable night. They create and environment that encourages participants to be friendly and social. We look forward to returning.

Enjoyed Chef Drew's paella with friends last night. The meal was excellent and the presentation educational and interesting!

This is one of the gems of Libertyville. Great place- great people!! We love First Friday - Nikki is the absolute best!! The shop has such cute gifts and they also have some great classes! An overall awesome small business that we are so lucky to have!

Such a cute shop with all the best things for the kitchen! First Friday is so fun. Great selection of wines and delicious appetizers. Nikki’s guidance on wines was spot-on.

Kim and Dan clearly love what they do. The attention and care they give to guests is exceptional. I had the pleasure of hosting a client appreciation event at The Joyful Gourmet. Chef Laura prepared a delicious meal and showed my clients a phenomenal evening. My clients were writing to thank me for a wonderful event in the days that followed. Dan's knowledge and recommendations on wine were remarkable. I will definitely be back! Don't overlook the store and cooking classes.

Love this place! I have attended cooking classes here, arranged a private cooking class and have shopped here for years. The owners, staff and guest chefs are all amazing. They have a great selection of quality cooking accessories as well. We recently moved out of the area but I still come back for classes and shopping. A true gem.

I was so excited to sign up for the pasta making class because I have love fresh pasta. The class cost $96 which includes a glass of cheap wine. My biggest disappointment was that we did not make the dough for the pasta. It was pre-made and we just put it through the pasta maker like a child playing with playdo. I was very disappointed with that because the technique I was there to learn was getting the consistency of the dough right. Chef Laura made 5 items, of which only the panzanella salad was tasty. The sunflower seed pesto and the balsamic honey brussel sprouts were absolutely disgusting. The only thing I thought was just okay was the roasted garlic tomato sauce, to which she added Italian sausage. She did not even bother to demonstrate the assembly of the tiramisu, just served one that she’d made earlier! Could have been store bought for all I know! This whole class was a farce and definitely not worth the money. I cannot recommend it at all! Not to learn and certainly not for the taste! Take your money and spend it at a decent Italian restaurant where you will at least get a nice bottle of wine and a tasty meal for that price!

Great selection of products and wonderful customer service!

Love this place! Cute downtown setting and if you love cooking this is the place. Wine by the glass too and the owners are the nicest people

Knowledgeable staff. Very different selection from the norm.

I love the joyful gourmet! I’ve been buying kitchen tools and gifts from here for the past year, and I was finally able to take one of their cooking classes. It was so much fun; my husband and I learned a lot; and the food was delicious! Chef Dave was great! Highly recommend!

Brought my sister here for her birthday, along with her friend, me and my wife. We did a lobster roll and oyster cooking class and it was honestly some of the most fun I have had in ages. Drank wine, local craft beer and got to know owners and other anniversary couples. Ingredients were top notch everyone had fun. The shop itself has a wonderful selection that you can easily find an excuse to add to your kitchen, dining room or bar. Not your average "found at Target" stuff. Can't say enough good things - we are already looking to plan our next class and kitchen upgrade!

Stunning displaying polish pottery caught my eye while out for dinner- so glad I came back!

Had an experience with this company that was less than Joyful.

I stopped in a year ago and spoke with the owner, I really appreciated talking with her- because of all she did to get this business up and running. I kept this in mind when planning a summer event for my company.

I reached out to schedule a corporate event, and was told the same thing twice- they took my information and said 'someone will reach out to you by this afternoon'.

Eventually I received a call from someone claiming to be their "events manager" who told me she was 'extremely busy'. I let her know that I've already been waiting a few days, and need to make a decision soon. She essentially just told me that she would send me an email with the information. Another day goes by, and I still haven't received any info.

I'm so glad, however, for the owner - that her business is doing well enough to completely ignore a company interested in a 30+ person event. I could guarantee that this events manager isn't a fraction as busy as I am, but even then, the point is that she can't live up to her word, which is a poor representation of the company.